Tax Policy Center

There's a right way and a wrong way to have a debate about taxes in this country. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid demonstrated how not to accomplish that task with his claim that Mitt Romney didn't pay any federal income taxes over a 10-year period. The problem is that the Nevada Democrat offered absolutely no proof of this and said he was informed of it by "an extremely credible source" but not the White House. We don't know whom Mr. Reid might regard as highly credible - whether his barber or an IRS agent - but the episode smacked of the kind of McCarthyism that Democrats have so often derided when it comes from Republicans.

Regardless of whether the president and Congress strike a deal or take the nation headfirst over the "fiscal cliff," federal taxes for some Marylanders will increase next year — and under some scenarios the pain could be worse than in other states. Even if the White House and Republicans find middle ground by the end of the month, an agreement that includes higher tax rates for top income brackets — as the Obama administration has insisted — would likely have a disproportionate impact on wealthy Maryland.

President Barack Obama signaled on election night that he's willing to work with leaders in both parties on deficit reduction and tax reform. And House Speaker John A. Boehner said a day later that Republicans were open to new revenue. Is compromise possible? It's definitely needed. The country is headed for the so-called fiscal cliff because of steep spending cuts that automatically kick in next year on top of huge tax increases from the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts next month.

President Barack Obama signaled on election night that he's willing to work with leaders in both parties on deficit reduction and tax reform. And House Speaker John A. Boehner said a day later that Republicans were open to new revenue. Is compromise possible? It's definitely needed. The country is headed for the so-called fiscal cliff because of steep spending cuts that automatically kick in next year on top of huge tax increases from the expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts next month.

While much attention has been paid to the extension of Bush-era tax cuts in the massive tax package signed by President Barack Obama this month, Congress also tucked in other tax breaks and tweaks. And not everyone will benefit. The bill cuts the payroll tax so workers will get more in their paychecks next year, although some workers will see a bigger bump than others — and some won't get any. The home improvement energy credit returns, but it's stingier. Meanwhile, the federal estate tax is resurrected in a far more generous form.

The so-called "flat tax" is all the rage among Republican presidential hopefuls. Herman Cain was the first. Now, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have come up with their own flat-tax proposals. The flat tax is a fraud. It raises taxes on the poor and lowers them on the rich. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that Mr. Cain's flat-tax plan (the only one that's been set out in any detail) would lower the after-tax incomes of poor households (incomes below $30,000) by 16 percent to 20 percent.

From reformers to politicians, everybody's talking about the alternative minimum tax, but nobody seems to be doing anything about it. The AMT, enacted in 1969 to reduce the use by the super-rich of special deductions to avoid paying their share of income tax, has spiraled out of control. This year you have a one in 10 chance of getting walloped with a higher-than-expected tax bill thanks to the AMT, and by 2010 one out of every three households is expected to fall into the AMT trap. Without sweeping reform, a married couple with two kids and an income of $75,000 to $100,000 has a 97 percent chance of paying AMT in 2010, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.

With his surprising selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, Republican Mitt Romney is asking Americans to choose between competing narratives of our past, interpretations of present realities and visions of our future. According to the historical narrative embraced by Messrs. Romney and Ryan and their tea party supporters, the U.S. is a unique nation, anointed by God not merely to dominate a continent but to shape the destiny of the world. In their view, America's wealth and might are primarily due to the accomplishments of enterprising individuals whose initiative, imagination and risk-taking created great fortunes.

In the great pile of email that arrived after last Sunday's column on millionaires who whine about "class warfare," there were numerous defenses of wealthy "job creators like Mitt Romney," and an equal number of attacks on "liberals like President Obama" who believe the rich should start paying more in income taxes again. Beachterp — that's his email handle (he did not provide his full name when asked) — made a number of assertions about millionaires, including Maryland's, and the unfairness of asking them to contribute more of their earnings to the public treasuries.

"Thank God for Ronald Reagan!" I heard a successful restaurateur cheer one night in 1986, as he surveyed the people standing in line to get into his place in Baltimore's Little Italy. "If the Democrats were running the show, half the damn country would be on welfare. " That was a standard theme of the era: The country had been going to hell because of "welfare. " The Democrats' Great Society had spawned an expensive "welfare state," Reaganites argued, with too many lazy Americans on the dole.

In the great pile of email that arrived after last Sunday's column on millionaires who whine about "class warfare," there were numerous defenses of wealthy "job creators like Mitt Romney," and an equal number of attacks on "liberals like President Obama" who believe the rich should start paying more in income taxes again. Beachterp — that's his email handle (he did not provide his full name when asked) — made a number of assertions about millionaires, including Maryland's, and the unfairness of asking them to contribute more of their earnings to the public treasuries.

With his surprising selection of Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan as his running mate, Republican Mitt Romney is asking Americans to choose between competing narratives of our past, interpretations of present realities and visions of our future. According to the historical narrative embraced by Messrs. Romney and Ryan and their tea party supporters, the U.S. is a unique nation, anointed by God not merely to dominate a continent but to shape the destiny of the world. In their view, America's wealth and might are primarily due to the accomplishments of enterprising individuals whose initiative, imagination and risk-taking created great fortunes.

There's a right way and a wrong way to have a debate about taxes in this country. This week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid demonstrated how not to accomplish that task with his claim that Mitt Romney didn't pay any federal income taxes over a 10-year period. The problem is that the Nevada Democrat offered absolutely no proof of this and said he was informed of it by "an extremely credible source" but not the White House. We don't know whom Mr. Reid might regard as highly credible - whether his barber or an IRS agent - but the episode smacked of the kind of McCarthyism that Democrats have so often derided when it comes from Republicans.

The so-called "flat tax" is all the rage among Republican presidential hopefuls. Herman Cain was the first. Now, Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich have come up with their own flat-tax proposals. The flat tax is a fraud. It raises taxes on the poor and lowers them on the rich. The nonpartisan Tax Policy Center estimates that Mr. Cain's flat-tax plan (the only one that's been set out in any detail) would lower the after-tax incomes of poor households (incomes below $30,000) by 16 percent to 20 percent.

"Thank God for Ronald Reagan!" I heard a successful restaurateur cheer one night in 1986, as he surveyed the people standing in line to get into his place in Baltimore's Little Italy. "If the Democrats were running the show, half the damn country would be on welfare. " That was a standard theme of the era: The country had been going to hell because of "welfare. " The Democrats' Great Society had spawned an expensive "welfare state," Reaganites argued, with too many lazy Americans on the dole.

While much attention has been paid to the extension of Bush-era tax cuts in the massive tax package signed by President Barack Obama this month, Congress also tucked in other tax breaks and tweaks. And not everyone will benefit. The bill cuts the payroll tax so workers will get more in their paychecks next year, although some workers will see a bigger bump than others — and some won't get any. The home improvement energy credit returns, but it's stingier. Meanwhile, the federal estate tax is resurrected in a far more generous form.

Regardless of whether the president and Congress strike a deal or take the nation headfirst over the "fiscal cliff," federal taxes for some Marylanders will increase next year — and under some scenarios the pain could be worse than in other states. Even if the White House and Republicans find middle ground by the end of the month, an agreement that includes higher tax rates for top income brackets — as the Obama administration has insisted — would likely have a disproportionate impact on wealthy Maryland.

As millions of Americans rush to meet the deadline for reporting how much tax they owe on last year's income, a stealth tax increase has begun eating into the 2006 income of nearly 19 million households. Unless Congress takes action, one in four families with children - up from one in 22 last year - will owe up to $3,640 in additional federal income tax next April. Few of them realize that their taxes have increased, because Congress has not voted to raise taxes. Instead, Congress let a tax break expire.

From reformers to politicians, everybody's talking about the alternative minimum tax, but nobody seems to be doing anything about it. The AMT, enacted in 1969 to reduce the use by the super-rich of special deductions to avoid paying their share of income tax, has spiraled out of control. This year you have a one in 10 chance of getting walloped with a higher-than-expected tax bill thanks to the AMT, and by 2010 one out of every three households is expected to fall into the AMT trap. Without sweeping reform, a married couple with two kids and an income of $75,000 to $100,000 has a 97 percent chance of paying AMT in 2010, according to the Tax Policy Center, a joint venture of the Urban Institute and Brookings Institution.